Can do

Collect-a-Can pairs recycling with empowerment

This initiative will create a network of restaurants, corporates, businesses, schools and collectors, together safeguarding the environment and ensuring a sustainable income stream for collectors that will ultimately contribute to job creation and nation building.

“The CAN DO! Tuesdays campaign aims to encourage restaurants in the greater Gauteng region to collect the cans generated through day-to-day business. Collect-a-Can will then assign informal collectors in the areas to specific restaurants, who will then collect the cans from the participating restaurants and sell the cans back to Collect-a-Can for cash”, says Zimasa Velaphi, Public Relations and Marketing Manager of Collect-a-Can.

Collect-a-Can also encourages corporates, businesses and schools to become Green Heroes by donating money in aid of buying trolleys to assist these collectors with their collection services, allowing them to collect more cans in a single trip.

This initiative follows a successful pilot, where around 50 restaurants in the Greenside, Parkhurst and Melville areas collected all their used beverage cans for collection on Tuesdays.

“We have seen the positive impact that this work can have on collectors’ livelihoods by creating the opportunity to earn an income until they can find permanent employment or to supplement their low income,” says Velaphi.